Micah 1

Micah 1 has the word of the Lord coming to this prophet, Micah.  He was from Moresheth, a town about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem on the border between Judah and Philistine.  This means that Micah was a country boy much like Amos, and was being sent to the city to bring God’s truth to them.  Micah had a strong sense of calling and gladly went to deliver God’s message, unlike Jonah who had ran.  Micah was a prophet sometime between 739bc and 686bc which we know from the description of the kings that were around then in the first verse.

Micah had a strong message.  “For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth”.  Micah sees the Lord coming down from heaven to earth with judgment.  He says that mountains will melt and valleys split open, so what chance will the sinful people have when the Lord comes down.  God has to deal with sin.  And Micah makes it clear that sin is exactly the cause of what he has seen in his vision.  God is going to deal with it.

“All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel”.  The people of Judah and Israel likely felt this was unfair.  They were surrounded by pagan nations who were far worse sinners than they were, at least in their own eyes.  That’s how we see sin – we can look around and say we’re not as bad as someone else.  But that isn’t how God sees it.  Sin is sin and always carries a cost.  Sin has no levels or distinction – sin is sin and brings judgment.  God is carrying that judgment out.

We face the same future.  We’re all guilty of sin – scripture is clear about that.  We can sit back and point to others who are guilty of ‘worse sin’ than we are, right?  We can try, but that logic won’t matter.  Sin will lead to judgment, and that judgment is eternal.  The only thing that can change that is to be forgiven of our sin, which happens one way and only one way, through the shed blood of Christ crucified.  Jesus alone can cover the penalty of sin in our life.  He is the only way for us to be redeemed and restored.  We have to confess and repent and receive the gift of grace God offers us through the blood of Christ.  That’s our only hope.  Otherwise, we’ll face judgment just like these folks did in Micah’s day!